Police say domestic violence calls spike on holidays

Milwaukee police say domestic violence calls spike on Thanksgiving and Christmas, and these calls can be the most unpredictable and dangerous situations police must respond to. Police say these situations can be aggravated by people just spending too much time inside with family, stress relating to the holidays, and perhaps having too much to drink. Police say these situations always keep them busy on Thanksgiving Day.

Joseph Honzelka and Elvis Lock are two officers that spent their Thanksgiving on patrol. It wasn't even past sunset on Thursday, and already, they had a delicate situation to respond to. Police were called to a home, where the man inside claimed his girlfriend came at him with a knife. Police eventually took the woman into custody, and one of her children hugged her as she entered the back of the squad car. Her boyfriend says he won't be pressing charges, but this means a family separated on Thanksgiving, rather than brought together.

Police say these situations are delicate and can be dangerous, because they are forced to enter an emotionally charged situation, likely with a large group of people involved - many of them family. "Even if it is a case where you have to take a person into custody, there's still family members around, and a lot of times, they may be upset with the person, but they certainly don't want them taken into custody," Officer Lock said.